VETERAN Hollywood director Joel Schumacher’s third attempt to put the big-budget glossiness of “Batman & Robin” behind him is by far the most successful.

“Tigerland,” a gritty Vietnam War drama with a star-making central performance by a previously obscure Irish actor named Colin Farrell, is not only a far more coherent movie than its predecessors (“Flawless” and “8mm”), but it’s Schumacher’s most dramatically satisfying work since “Falling Down.”

Some of the credit must go to credited screenwriters Ross Klavan and Michael McGruther, who came up with a tightly written yarn with well-defined characters, even if it covers much the same ground as such 1980s efforts as Robert Altman’s “Streamers” and the excellent, little-seen “84 Charlie MoPic.”

“Tigerland” is also boosted by its grainy, hand-held 16-mm camerawork by Matthew Libatique (“Pi”), shot largely with natural light. It gives the movie a documentary-like urgency (underlined by the very sparse use of music) that’s really striking for studio-backed project.

But Schumacher deserves the lion’s share of the praise for the extraordinary performances, particularly that of Farrell, whose Oscar-caliber work here has been accurately compared to James Dean, Montgomery Clift and the young Marlon Brando.

Farrell burns up the screen as Bozz, a rebellious draftee who stirs up trouble in his platoon during their basic training at Fort Polk, La. It’s 1971, and they’re about to be sent to Tigerland, a nearby jungle-like combat simulation area that will prepare them for Vietnam.

Bozz wants out of the service, and he figures his best route is to make himself a pain in the neck to his superiors. A rule-book expert, he heroically obtains discharges for a couple of his compatriots.

But the brass, stung by domestic opposition to the unpopular war, decide Bozz’ scheming shows he has a leadership potential. This exacerbates the tensions between Bozz and the platoon’s seriously disturbed leader Wilson (Shea Whigham) to the breaking point, in a scene that will chill your blood.

The film is narrated by Paxton (Matthew Davis), an enlistee from New York who naively hopes to become the James Jones of Vietnam – but who’s saved from his writerly fantasies by Bozz is an act of self-sacrifice that strains credulity.

But even with its contrivances (and gratuitous male beefcake shots) “Tigerland” is rarely less than compelling, must-see entertainment, thanks to Farrell, Schumacher and company.